House buying procedure

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Hi

I tried searching for this topic but  the search facility seems to be down at present so apologies if we're going over similar ground.

What is the procedure and how long does it take to buy a house in France once an offer has been made and accepted? We will be paying cash. From the little I've learnt about it, it seems that the technique is similar to the Australian way in that the contract is signed at the beginning and not like the crappy English way where nothings definite until the final hour.

We've got contracts on 2 of our houses here in Australia and both will complete within 30 days of signing. They are only subject to the buyers getting finanace approved and having building and pest (termites) inspections and of course the normal property searches. Do French properties complete that quickly?

Any insight would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard & Lynda

[Nick Trollope]

The search facility on this forum is awful, so I, for one am not suprised that you can't find anything...

I don't know the system in Oz, but from what you describe, the French system is similar (& different from the - worse than crappy - UK system);

Choose house, have offer accepted. Sign Compromis de Vente. Pay deposit (typically 10%) (you do have a get-out at this point). Apply for mortgage. Seller has compulsory Termite & Asbestos surveys done. Completion is typically 3 months after CdV, you will receive very little notice of completion, so, if you are in Australia, you may need to give someone Power of Attorney (such as the Notaire).

Little opportunity to get out of the deal once you have signed the CdV. Doing so will cost you your deposit & you could still be sued for lots of other monies.

HTH!

 

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

3 months!!! Holy smoke. I guess we'll have to find somewhere to rent when we come over. There's no way I'd buy from Australia. Why does it take so long? I mean we'll be paying cash. Seems a heck of a long time.

[Teamedup]

I was surprised to see you say the UK system was crappy. It could be shorter than three months but that is once in a blue moon. And can be longer, I've seen it as long as four or five months. The banks are sometimes 'crappy' at getting the money to the notaire when they should as friends of ours have found.

And it could all go smoothly too, as other friends have found. They allowed the three months and the bank got the money to the notaire on time and the other people moved out too when they said that they would........ which can also be another problem.

[Will]

It is indeed possible to do it in less than three months. 12 weeks is a rather arbitrary average, and being an average means that it can take longer than that as well as being shorter. Reasons why it takes a long time include the fact that it can be necessary to refer the purchase to a body like SAFER (which has to offer farmland of more than a certain area to other farmers), or that conditions in the Compromis de Vente have to be met before the sale can be finalised - such conditions include arranging finance, or getting a certificat d'urbanisme (very roughly equivalent to outline planning permission).

If you are buying somewhere that doesn't have a lot of land attached, doesn't need conversion or extensive renovation, and you are buying without a mortgage it should be possible to negotiate a far shorter completion date than 12 weeks.

The most common reason for the process taking a long time is that it is governed by the speed at which the notaire works. The notaire is effecctively a government official who has, by law, to oversee all sales, making sure that all legal obligations are met and all taxes paid. It is very difficult to hurry any French official. In the case of notaires who are known to be very slow it can sometimes help speed things up by employing a second notaire but in other cases, e.g. where a buyer is used to the British system and feels their interests would be served by using a different lawyer from that appointed by the seller or the agent, using a second notaire merely slows things down even more.

As you say, renting for a while before buying would be a very good idea - it removes a lot of the pressure, and enables you to see if you really would be able to live in a place (as opposed to just spending a holiday there). The French system can be better than the British in that it gives much more security; the disadvantage is the time it can take. But it's best to see that not as just a temporary frustration when buying a house, more as an introduction to the speed at which anything official proceeds here. 

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Also, what point do you take out house insurance? In Australia it's as soon as the contract is signed as it is still binding even if the house falls down. Is this the same in France?

[Nick Trollope]

Insurance is taken from the moment the final contract is signed (the Acte de Vente). It is the sellers responsibility before then. Broadly speaking, household insurance is mandatory.